3 ms·

Studies find female surgeons' patients less likely to have adverse complications

12 points by Geekette 3y ago

Geekette 3y ago
Non-paywall/archived copy: https://archive.li/9i7be https://archive.li/9i7be
vouaobrasil 3y ago
I am not doubting this study but I wonder how likely it would have been for the study to be published if "females" was replaced by "males" (assuming the opposite result was true). Probably a fairly low probability indeed. And if so, then the entire body of literature may give a bit of a biased view. And given this, I am wondering how many unconscious biases will enter into the minds of researchers given that most people must be aware of such a bias. Again, this study might indeed be true, but I am sure the methodologies of studies that confirm the diversity policies of academia are less likely to be stronlgy scrutinized. While this doesn't invalidate anything, it does make it possible for systematic biases to creep into the research field.
briandon 3y ago
From TA: Jerath said the differences aren’t about technical skill, but about listening to patients and choosing appropriate care. Previous studies point to differences in the way that female physicians communicate and engage with patients. [...] Overall, patients experienced complications 9% of the time when treated by female surgeons and 10.2% of the time when treated by male surgeons. If "listening to patients and choosing appropriate care" sometimes translates into simpler/less-ambitious surgeries, that could lead to this small difference in complications and possibly worse long-term outcomes vis-à-vis the actual conditions that prompted surgeries included in this, the first mentioned, study. And: Another study published in JAMA Surgery on Wednesday looked at more than 100,000 patients in Sweden who’d had surgery to remove their gallbladders. Female surgeons had longer operation times, but their patients had shorter hospital stays and less invasive surgeries. Male surgeons spent a mean of eight minutes less per operation compared with women, even after matching similar patients, surgeries and hospitals. Complications including bleeding, perforations of the intestine or bowel, bile duct lesions, leakage and abscesses occurred nearly 30% more often for male surgeons. What if more challenging gallbladder surgeries or gallbladder removals for people with more comorbidities were more likely to be undertaken by male surgeons or those patients were more likely to be referred to 'senior' surgeons who may be disproportionately male? Or... 100k gallbladder removals in a small country like Sweden is a lot of gallbladder removals. What if, over the years during which the surgeries look at by this 2nd study, two things happened: the share of female surgeons increased and there were also advances in technique that significantly reduced complications for gallbladder removal surgeries in Sweden?
- extropic-engine 3y ago
  or... what if men's brains are inherently bad at surgery? someone should do a study

12 points by Geekette 3y ago

Non-paywall/archived copy: https://archive.li/9i7be https://archive.li/9i7be

I am not doubting this study but I wonder how likely it would have been for the study to be published if "females" was replaced by "males" (assuming the opposite result was true). Probably a fairly low probability indeed. And if so, then the entire body of literature may give a bit of a biased view. And given this, I am wondering how many unconscious biases will enter into the minds of researchers given that most people must be aware of such a bias. Again, this study might indeed be true, but I am sure the methodologies of studies that confirm the diversity policies of academia are less likely to be stronlgy scrutinized. While this doesn't invalidate anything, it does make it possible for systematic biases to creep into the research field.

briandon 3y ago

From TA: Jerath said the differences aren’t about technical skill, but about listening to patients and choosing appropriate care. Previous studies point to differences in the way that female physicians communicate and engage with patients. [...] Overall, patients experienced complications 9% of the time when treated by female surgeons and 10.2% of the time when treated by male surgeons. If "listening to patients and choosing appropriate care" sometimes translates into simpler/less-ambitious surgeries, that could lead to this small difference in complications and possibly worse long-term outcomes vis-à-vis the actual conditions that prompted surgeries included in this, the first mentioned, study. And: Another study published in JAMA Surgery on Wednesday looked at more than 100,000 patients in Sweden who’d had surgery to remove their gallbladders. Female surgeons had longer operation times, but their patients had shorter hospital stays and less invasive surgeries. Male surgeons spent a mean of eight minutes less per operation compared with women, even after matching similar patients, surgeries and hospitals. Complications including bleeding, perforations of the intestine or bowel, bile duct lesions, leakage and abscesses occurred nearly 30% more often for male surgeons. What if more challenging gallbladder surgeries or gallbladder removals for people with more comorbidities were more likely to be undertaken by male surgeons or those patients were more likely to be referred to 'senior' surgeons who may be disproportionately male? Or... 100k gallbladder removals in a small country like Sweden is a lot of gallbladder removals. What if, over the years during which the surgeries look at by this 2nd study, two things happened: the share of female surgeons increased and there were also advances in technique that significantly reduced complications for gallbladder removal surgeries in Sweden?

extropic-engine 3y ago
or... what if men's brains are inherently bad at surgery? someone should do a study